RCB Legend Reckons Rahul Dravid Was 'Kicked Out' Of Rajasthan Royals

Rahul Dravid and Rajasthan Royals (RR) parted ways on August 30 (Saturday) after just one year. RR finished with just four wins in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, finishing ninth on the points table.

In the statement announcing Dravid's departure, RR said that Dravid was offered a bigger role with the franchise, but he declined, leading to his departure. 

However, former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter AB de Villiers believes that Dravid's refusal may have played a role in him getting "kicked out."

"Sometimes you see it in the Premier League as well, the football league, where the managers and the coaches are always under huge pressure to perform and to bring trophies home. And once they don't, they start hearing from the owners and whoever makes the decisions for the various leagues, sorry, franchises, so we don't know the facts really. It sounds to me like the fact that he turned down that other role, sort of like he was kicked out, which is never ideal," de Villiers said on social media show 360 LIVE. 

"But maybe Rajasthan have different ideas for the upcoming season. Maybe they want to shake things up a bit and move forward with that. I don't think they had the greatest auction last time, as they let go of some incredible players, the likes of Jos Butler, to name but a few, which I thought was a mistake. They sometimes are a good thing, but not overly aggressive for you. You can let one or two go, but they. They let a huge bulk of their team go at once, I think, a gradual sort of decline."

De Villiers believes Dravid's leaving RR will be huge shoes to fill. The former India captain took over the head coach role at RR after he led India to the T20 World Cup title in 2024.

"It sort of sounds to me like it was an owner or management kind of call. They gave him an option to have a broader role in the team. He sort of turned that down. Maybe he was upset because he really wanted to be still involved. He wanted to be in the dugout. Maybe it was his call. I don't know. We'll. I'm pretty sure we'll find out once we get him talking about it in the future. Maybe. But Rahul, obviously, is leaving big footsteps behind, big shoes to fill," he said.

"He's a larger-than-life kind of character, and he knows a lot about the game. And I personally have spoken to youngsters before on this show as well. Actually, some of my interviews were with a lot of people who spoke about him having a huge influence on their careers. So, yeah, you will definitely be missed."